Dec. 5, 2012

Paralyzed seven years ago after falling from a tree stand, Matt Thums of the town of Texas has used his experience to help Main St. Homes design and build barrier-free homes. / T'xer Zhon Kha/Daily Herald Media

That was just over seven years ago, on Sept. 17, 2005. It was opening day of bow hunting season, and he had sat in that tree stand in the morning. There had been plenty of deer action in the area, so he returned to the stand on his father’s property near Ogema, to put a seat in. As he was trying to get onto the stand, a board gave way and he fell backward.

Thums was married at the time and worked as a carpenter and foreman for a bridge construction company, the same company for which his dad, brother and other relatives worked. Thums, on his back, watched the sun move across the sky. He thought about his wife, and he thought about his job, and he wondered how he would be able to work again, how he would be able to provide for his wife.

Thums knew he was seriously hurt, but what he didn’t know was that he was paralyzed from above his waist down and would spend the next six months in hospitals recovering from the fall. He couldn’t have known how that injury would forever change the course of his life; that he would divorce, fall in love and remarry. That he would go on to school, earn a bachelor’s degree, become an accountant and help a Wausau builder design homes that would be barrier free, helping others who use wheelchairs.

Thums earned that bachelor’s degree at Upper Iowa University Wausau. In order to graduate, he would complete a senior project, and he used his experience in a wheelchair to design a barrier-free home. The threads of his post-fall life came together in that project, which has been used by his employer, Main St. Homes, owned by Heath Tappe, to build a barrier-free model home, which since has been sold. The builder now is working with another potential client to build another.

Although Thums had what he called “bad days” in the time that followed, he decided to deal with the injury as he dealt with problems as a foreman: one step at a time.

(Page 2 of 3)

“I just took it as it’s not going to be the same anymore,” said Thums, now 36 and living in the town of Texas. “You just keep going forward. I never dwelled on it.”

Thums lived in Ogema at the time of his injury. He broke his wrist as well as his back when he fell. He spent about six months in recovery and rehab in two hospitals, Ministry Saint Joseph’s Hospital in Marshfield and Memorial Health Center in Medford.

After he got home from the hospital, Thums started working toward getting his life back to normal. His wife at the time helped spur him on.

“These four walls will get old real fast,” he remembers her saying. He also knew that he didn’t want to live the rest of his life collecting Social Security disability payments.

“You want to work, be productive to society,” he said.

He worked with social workers who specialize in helping people with disabilities get training and work. He took aptitude tests that showed he had accounting abilities. Not long after, he enrolled at Northcentral Technical College, and took classes at that school’s Medford campus.

Thums had a 2.98 grade point average when he was a student at Prentice High School, but he graduated with a 4.0 from NTC with an associate degree in accounting in December 2008. He pushed himself academically “to prove myself, I guess,” he said.

Meanwhile, the economy tanked, and good accounting jobs required bachelor’s degrees and experience. A friend was attending Upper Iowa University, and Thums enrolled there in the spring 2009. He graduated in May.

In those years, Thums and his first wife divorced. He met and fell in love with Betsy Dollard, who also was a student at NTC. They married in September. He also began a new job, as an accountant, project estimator and bidder for Main St. Homes in Rib Mountain.

Last spring, Thums and Dollard started looking for a home together and Tappe was their real estate agent. They had trouble finding a home that would accommodate Thums and his wheelchair, “even the ones advertised as barrier free,” Thums said. “One had steps to get in. Well, that’s a barrier right there.”

(Page 3 of 3)

For the folks at Upper Iowa University, watching Thums grow and make an impact has been truly rewarding, said Sarah Koepke, the Upper Iowa University Wausau center director.

“Matt always had a positive attitude, always was looking toward the future,” Koepke said. “He made the best of it. He took what is a really difficult situation, and made things happen.”

Norcon Corp. in Weston recently hired Thums as a full-time assistant project manager and estimator. Thums continues to work with Main St. Homes, doing accounting and consulting on creating open, accessible homes. There’s satisfaction there, he said, because his work will help people live fuller lives.

But Norcon is a concrete repair and services company, and part of the work it does is working with bridges.

“It’s come full circle,” Thums said.

— Greater Wausau is coverage that celebrates the good things about life in the greater Wausau area and addresses community challenges. If you have a story idea, email Editor Mark Treinen at mtreinen@wdhprint.com or call 715-845-0655.